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The ATS-6/Command Service Module Training Console houses, controls, and cools telecommunication subsystems during support of ASTP test programs. The function of each switch on the power control and mode control panels is described along with the input functions on the stimulus input panel. The switch settings for each mode of operation are presented.
A brief general description of the ASTP flight program verification was presented. The total program verification effort assures the accuracy and adequacy of the LVDC flight program and verifies that the final program meets mission requirements and conforms to program documentation. The flight program's functional requirements to integrate the guidance and control system with the launch vehicle sequencing system are verified directly by analysis of many special logic checks designed for this purpose and indirectly by the correct overall program response to nominal and numerous perturbed conditions. Verification of the interaction of function requirements is accomplished on every case run during the verification effort.
The Apollo-Soyuz Test Program (ASTP) is scheduled for flight in July 1975. This paper will describe briefly the mission planning and hardware associated with the program. Of interest are modifications to the basic Apollo and Soyuz vehicles as well as the newly developed docking module and docking system. Joint aspects of the mission profile are explained. Science objectives and corresponding experiments are described. Utilization of the ATS-6 Satellite for relay of TV, voice, and data to the ground is also a topic. The paper concludes with a discussion of the joint flight control interface.
The impact of Skylab Space Processing Applications experiments upon ground based research laboratory capabilities is discussed. The findings of a few selected space processing Skylab experiments are summarized and explained. The objectives of the ASTP space processing experiments are summarized. NASA's plans for use of sounding rockets for space processing experiments are outlined briefly. The integration of NASA's Space Processing Program into an active planning effort for use of Shuttle is reviewed.
The Apollo Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) Weights and Mass Properties Operational Management System was established to assure a timely and authoritative method of acquiring, controlling, generating, and disseminating an official set of vehicle weights and mass properties data. This paper provides an overview of the system and its interaction with the various aspects of vehicle and component design, mission planning, hardware and software simulations and verification, and real-time mission support activities. The effect of vehicle configuration, design maturity, and consumables updates is discussed in the context of weight control.
Prior to the ASTP joint flight it was observed during various tests on the USA's VHF/FM system, that the 121.75 MHz receiver unsquelched when exposed to certain RF power levels at a frequency of 142.417 MHz. Tests were conducted in an effort to arrive at a solution. Several recommendations were made but the most feasible was to insert a selective band pass filter in the transmit/receiver line of the VHF/FM transceiver. The tests were performed on the filter to determine the frequency response and rejection capabilities at 142.417 MHz.
The goal of the TU program was to maximize the development of operable hardware and systems which will be of substantial benefit to the public. Five working prototypes were developed, and a meal system for the elderly is now undergoing evaluation. Manpower utilization is shown relative to the volume of requests in work for each month. The ASTP mobile laboratories and post Skylab bedrest study are also described.
An outline of the various techniques used and the results obtained of attempts to achieve satisfactory preservation of ova and sperm of Fundulus heteroclitus are discussed in terms of the greatest amount of time that fertility could be retained, and also the retention of maximum fertility. Also included are the results of tests on delayed embryogenesis, should the preservation of individual gametes not prove feasible, as well as preliminary treatment of data on the orientation of ASTP juveniles.
The Apollo 16 electrophoresis experiment was analyzed, demonstrating that the separation of the two different-size monodisperse latexes did indeed take place, but that the separation was obscured by the pronounced electroosmotic flow of the liquid medium. The results of this experiment, however, were dramatic since it is impossible to carry out a similar separation on earth. It can be stated unequivocally from this experiment that any electrophoretic separation will be enhanced under microgravity conditions. The only question is the degree of this enhancement, which can be expected to vary from one experimental technique to another. The low-electroosmotic-mobility coating (Z6040-MC) developed under this program was found to be suitable for a free-fluid electrophoretic separation such as the experiment designed for the ASTP flight. The problem with this coating, however, is that its permanency is limited because of the slow desorption of the methylcellulose from the coated surface.
Bodies/systems need to be stopped and locked/latched at the end of their path. Some examples of these systems in the aerospace industry (including launch vehicle, spacecraft, and the ground support equipment) are the command module access arm, service arms, docking module of the ASTP and the orbiter access arm for the space shuttle. Two major aspects are covered: (1) various methods of latching and (2) selection of the optimum method for latching, depending on the application and the design requirement criteria.
The Food Depot operations required to produce the ASTP Food System, the food system and some analysis and recommendations related to future operations are described.
During the last several years, the NASA space program entered a new era. With the completion of the Apollo and Skylab programs, NASA places emphasis within its space effort on three main objectives: (1) improving the access to space and the ability to capitalize on this new capability; (2) developing the space and ground systems that will collect and interpret data related to the changing nature of the earth's natural and cultural resources to aid in solving resource and environmental problems facing the entire world; and (3) adding to the storehouse of knowledge through the continued exploration of our solar system and the universe. The paper discusses the importance of the joint USA/USSR Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP), describes the capability and status of the Space Shuttle, and outlines the important role that these two programs played in extending our ability to make more effective use of this space environment. It also summarizes the capability and the plans for satellites to monitor the earth's natural and cultural resources and to assess environmental quality. The NASA programs for exploring the solar system and the universe is reviewed.
An experiment on melting and directional crystallization of an antimony (Sb) doped germanium silicon (GeSi) solid solution was designed for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) to study the possibility of using zero-g conditions for obtaining solid-solution monocrystals with uniformly distributed components. Crystallization in the zero-g environment did not occur under ideal stationary growth and segregation conditions. Crystallization under zero-g conditions revealed the heterogeneous nature of Si and Sb distribution in the cross sections of crystals. The presence of the radial thermal gradient in the multipurpose furnace could be one of the reasons for such Si and Sb distribution. The structure of space-grown crystals correlates with the nature of heterogeneities of Si and Sb distribution in crystals. The type of surface morphology and the contour observed in space-grown crystals were never observed in ground-based crystals and indicate the absence of wetting of the graphitized walls of the ampoule by the melt during melting and crystallization.
The results of the clinical aspects as well as the preflight and postflight research studies that were performed on the astronauts are presented. Because of the compromised postflight crew health status, not all postflight research procedures could be accomplished. This compromise was the result of the anomalous entrance of toxic gas into the spacecraft cabin during the earth landing sequence. Despite the exposure, the medical data collected are of sufficient interest to warrant inclusion in this official ASTP Medical Report.
The processing of materials in a low-g environment was started approximately 10 years ago. This article surveys the apparatus developed during that period. A low-g environment occurs naturally in a free-flying spacecraft (e.g., in manned flights such as Apollo, Skylab, and ASTP); low-g conditions also occur in other free-falling bodies such as sounding rockets and drop tower capsules. Apparatus has been developed for all these craft. Most of the apparatus described serves to melt and resolidify materials in low g; the material may be contained or, by virtue of the environment, freely floating. Other apparatus for separation of intimately mixed components or species is also described. A general conclusion is drawn that the apparatus addresses only a few of the possibilities available, is still at the experimental stage, and is of laboratory scale. It is predicted that processes showing promise will be scaled up to derive economic advantages in the Shuttle era of space flight.
The nature of high energy radiation and its penetration through earth's atmosphere is examined with emphasis on X-rays, gamma rays, and cosmic radiation and the instruments used in their detection. The history of radio astronomy and the capabilities of the Uhuru satellite are summarized. The ASTP soft X-ray experiment (MA-048) designed to study the spectra in the range from 0.1 to 10 keV and survey the background over a large section of the sky is described, as well as the determination of SMC C-1 as an X-ray pulsar. The crystal activation experiment (MA-151) used to measure the radioactive isotopes created by cosmic rays in crystals used for gamma ray detectors is also discussed.
The structure of the sun and its surface temperature and brightness are discussed as background for explaining the ASTP joint experiment to photograph the solar corona from Soyuz while the Apollo spacecraft created an artificial eclipse by blocking out the sun. Stellar spectra, stellar evolution, and the Milky Way galaxy are explored in relation to the MA-083 experiment to survey the sky for extreme ultraviolet sources and background radiation. Interstellar gas and the spectrum of helium are discussed in relation to the MA-088 experiment designed to detect interstellar helium entering the solar system and to measure its density and motion.
At 16-17 months of age, three groups of fish from the embryonated eggs in the ASTP killifish experiment were subjected to postflight tests consisting of rapidly changing environments. It was found that the group of fish with the least amount of development at orbital insertion (A-32) had a decreased rheotropism for both the moving background and the rotating water current tests when compared to ground control fish. Exposure to parabolic aircraft flight conditions revealed that the A-32 fish were less disoriented during zero gravity periods and were hypersensitive to high-gravity periods. These results suggested a modified vestibular competency due to a 9-d prehatching weightlessness exposure.